Continued concern for the environment requires that industrial waste be appropriately treated before being discharged into the surroundings to avoid pollution. Industrial waste may be formed as by-products of industrial processes or, in many cases, as a result of inadvertent mistreatment of materials. In any event, a common industrial waste is a mixture of immiscible liquids of differing densities, the most common of which is an oil-water mixture.
For any of a variety of reasons, relatively small quantities of oil become mixed with large quantities of water so as to make storage uneconomical. Yet, because of the polluting attributes of such a mixture, the same cannot be discharged into rivers, streams, lakes or the like.
Also because of the volume of such mixtures, it is desirable to be able to treat the volume rapidly and preferably on a continuous basis and yet perform such treatment with inexpensive means with a minimal of moving parts so as to minimize energy consumption as well as the possibility of parts failure.
The present invention is directed to accomplishing the above.